In modern society stress and its consequences are prevalent and result in considerable distress, alterations in physical health and social and occupational functioning. At its extreme, stress can lead to disabling neuropsychiatric problems which include depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses (Mitchell, 1998; Arborelius et al., 1999). Recent studies demonstrate the potent effects of stress on the body and brain. For example, chronic and intense stress can result in alterations in the region of the brain that plays an important role in memory (McGaugh and Roozendaal, 2002). In addition, stress can negatively impact cardiovascular function, immune function and gastrointestinal physiology (Tache et al., 2001; Beglinger and Degen, 2002; Coste et al., 2002; Vanitallie, 2002).
It is estimated that 10% of the population suffers from depression and another 15% from clinically significant anxiety. This high incidence of stress-related problems is reflected by the fact that approximately 50% of visits to primary care doctors are stress and/or psychologically related.
Current treatments for stress and its disorders are highly sought after and include the traditional anti-anxiety drugs like Valium and Xanax. More recently newer antidepressants like Prozac have been used to treat depression, anxiety and other stress related problems. It is estimated that $6 billion was spent last year in the U.S. on drugs like Prozac. However, these treatments still suffer from lack of efficacy in approximately 30% of individuals and in those that do respond only roughly 50% of them will return to normal function. In addition, these treatments have bothersome side-effects (50% have marked sexual dysfunction) which make treatment with these drugs unacceptable for many individuals. Since depression and anxiety are recurrent and chronic disorders it is important that patients are comfortable taking their medication over a long period of time. Overactivity of the corticotropin-releasing factor CRF system is implicated in depression and anxiety and treatments aimed at this system may be very effective (Reul and Holsboer, 2002). Treatments targeting this system, based on preclinical evidence, offer a completely new and promising approach for treating stress-related illnesses.